Thunderstorms
by Lycii
Summary: Because what were you going to do after your onee-chan died? Grieve? That wasn't an option especially when your green-haired sister is breaking down, inside out.


_What did I do? /sobs_

_I wrote this with a headache of young!Kano and !Kido in light of the recent eps. It's so obvious right? Kano likes Ayano. NO! KanoKido must be in canon. At least that's whar I feel. What do you think?_

* * *

Kano curled into his bed eagerly, the bedspread cloaking his entire body. He tried force himself into the arms of sleep, but somehow, they refused to whisk him away.

As he lay in the darkness, trying to calm his wildly beating heart, he tried to focus on the steady rhythm of Seto's breathing. Lightning streaked across the vast gray skies, a bolt of horrific beauty in the face of nothingness.

He knew shouldn't be feeling this so strongly right now, but he missed his older sister. His Ayano onee-chan.

He didn't want to believe it but, he missed her in a way far deeper than how a brother might miss his dead sister. It was different, and it scared him more than he would ever admit.

Then again, change was ever-present. Life was meant to be unpredictable and you just wouldn't know when it would all flip upside down.

Thunder rolled again, a loud groaning sound of agony from the skies. Kano felt that way too though he wouldn't let it out, not for the world.

Although he was depressed himself, he hated to see his other siblings sad-especially Kido who had become more fragile after Ayano's death. She'd lost her sister twice now.

Kano remembered when Kenjirou Tateyama had broken the news to them. They were all devastated, of course they were, and no one had known why she had done it. No one probably would ever know what had driven a beautiful smiling girl over the edge and out the window.

No one except maybe _him_.

Kido had thrown out all her skirts and dresses the day Ayano had died, vowing to be strong. She saw the parts of her that were a weakness and she would try as best as she could to get rid of them. Her heart was broken, Kano realized sadly, and she was afraid to give it away again.

Very much afraid that the blocks would come tumbling down on her once more. Kano could relate to that feeling, the burst of paranoia relapsing all over again and clawing into your heart.

_You mustn't forget Shuuya. Don't shut yourself off so completely that you lose the heart that was meant to love because sometimes when you want to say something, the chance will just slip through your fingers and then you lose it. Just like th_at」

The sky thundered once more and he heard a crash in the adjoining room. Seto stirred in his sleep but his eyes still remained firmly shut. _Kido_.

He mentally slapped himself, she was always afraid of storms and now that she was sleeping alone… Since he couldn't sleep in the first place, he decided to check in on her.

Peeling back the sheets from the bed, Kano slid out of the room silently. Standing in that familiar corridor in the dark of night brought back memories for him, of his childhood spent again with another family.

Tentatively, he placed a hand to the door and questioned himself. Why was he even here in the first place? Just what had triggered his protectiveness?

「_I need to tell her something_.」

Closing his eyes, he stepped into the room. It was quiet inside- as quiet as it could be with a storm raging outside anyway- and a figured was slumped on the floor, blankets tightly encompassing her in its embrace.

Kano sat down beside her. She didn't move, didn't react or do anything to acknowledge his presence. Kido just stared ahead into the darkness perhaps seeing what everything once was. She let out a small puff of breath, watching the white cloud dissipate the moment it left her lips.

All this while, Kano was watching her and noticing that her each and every action seemed to resemble Ayano in a way.

His hands shook, but he heard himself saying something he dreaded to admit. "I miss her you know, onee-chan."

He'd gotten Kido's attention now and both her large irises were boring into his own. He wanted to say something, really, he truly did but the words had died on his tongue. He channeled his attention away to other things, thinking of what Seto would probably say.

"But somehow," he continued, turning his gaze from hers. "I know that she'd want us to be strong and to continue being heroes."

Kido turned to look at him, her eyes round and brimming with so much hope that he could see she _wanted _to believe him. But there was an undercurrent of suspicion under it.

Kano didn't know when he started being good it, but he could read people, pinpoint their emotions and the like. Right now Kido was alternating between despair and hope.

"Shuuya," She said, inching closer to him. "Promise me alright? Promise me that you'll never leave me."

It took all of Kano's resolve not to break under her gaze, something which would turn watchful and guarded. He wanted her to stay this way, as someone he could protect and openly love. He pulled her in for a hug, unsure of how to formulate a response.

He would do it, do whatever it took to protect her. He thought himself as corrupted and vile already, so what was the difference if he did anything worse? He'd protect her; absorb the damage as best as he could. After all if he could grow up fast enough, she wouldn't have to. He'd take up the role that Ayano had set down. Even if he had choice to choose again between routes, he'd still take every single one the connected her to him. It makes all the difference and he knew that was what that made life worth living.

「_I told you Ayano, I told you I could love too._」


End file.
